Book 2, Question 52
Why Does Food Taste Dull When We Have a Cold?
When you have a cold, food can taste dull, like the flavor got turned down. That is because your stuffy nose blocks the smells that travel to your smell sensors. Your tongue still works, but it cannot do the job alone.
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 2
More fun facts
- Your tongue's taste buds sense sweet, salty, sour, and bitter.
- Taste buds have super tiny hairs called microvilli that send taste messages to your brain.
- Smell molecules land on a small patch of tissue high up inside your nose.
- When those molecules attach to smell cells, the cells send a message to your brain.
- Not being able to smell is called anosmia. It is usually a short-term side effect of a cold.
- Our sense of smell slowly fades as we get much older.
Sources: KidsHealth (Nemours), Cleveland Clinic
Questions kids ask
What is anosmia?
It means not being able to smell. With a cold it is usually temporary and goes away when the cold clears.